Grand larcenies involving sleeping victims in subways are ramping up transit crime numbers across the city, while overall crime continues to decline, according to officials.
Transit crime has seen a 2.7 percent bump compared with last year, mostly driven by grand larcenies, especially those involving sleeping passengers, said Dermont Shea, chief of crime control strategies.
Many of these crimes are reported in the Bronx and Brooklyn, “and that’s coincidentally also where the end of the lines are,” Shea noted.
Over all crime in the city fell by 5.6 percent so far this year, compared to last year, police said Monday.
Numbers in several categories were down in May, including homicides, with 24 cases last month compared to 32 in May 2016, police said. There were 67 shootings reported last month, compared to 86 in May 2016. And there was a 2.9 percent drop in felony assaults, from 1,815 in May 2016 to only 1,763 last month.
“It’s very clear what’s happening . . . the neighborhood policing model is working more and more and it’s taking root more and more,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “It’s making a huge difference.
“The extraordinary reality is that people want to be involved, help with the police,” he added. “And they want to be part of the solution. And they want to provide the police with the information they need to succeed.”
